Hope for more work
Mr. Tran Minh Dung is a phone repairman with 6 years of experience. Mr. Dung followed a master mechanic to work at a shop in Hanoi since 2018. By 2023, when the market share of phone repair and spa was saturated and competition was fierce, Mr. Dung followed the owner to move the entire group of nearly ten workers to Ho Chi Minh City to work in Binh Tan district.
“In November 2023, our whole group of workers went to Ho Chi Minh City, starting work again with small orders introduced by customers in Hanoi. We shared the difficulties together, sometimes we only received our salary once every 3 months, the salary was only about 5-6 million VND/person/month, depending on the order. From September 2024, the work got back on track, the foreman's salary was 13 million VND/month, the assistant worker's salary was 8.5 million VND/month," said Mr. Dung.
According to Mr. Dung, his work is irregular and he is always in the mindset of moving or doing other jobs to make a living. Therefore, sharing his wishes for the new year, Mr. Dung hopes to have a steady job so that he can send income back home to his wife to raise his two children.
Mr. Tran Duc Ninh (from Thanh Hoa) is an exported worker working at a plastic processing factory in Tochigi province, Ashikaga city, Japan. In January 2025, Mr. Ninh's labor contract with his old company expired. Because he has more than 6 years of experience working in Japan (after 2 contracts), Mr. Ninh is fluent in the language, has work experience, and is sought after by many companies.
Mr. Ninh decided to terminate his contract with the old company and sign a contract to transfer to a new company with a higher salary of about 5 million VND/month. “I am still working in Ashikaga City, just hoping that next year the company will have more work to increase my income. I decided to finish this contract and then return to my hometown to do business and get married. I am 29 years old and my parents are urging me to come back,” Mr. Ninh shared.
More work, more income
Ms. Bui Thi Hoa is a purchasing staff of a Japanese restaurant chain in Hanoi. With 4 existing restaurants, the work is quite a lot, Ms. Hoa's fixed salary is 13 million VND/month.
According to Ms. Hoa, her company plans to open 3 more restaurants in 2025. “The work will be twice as hard, my company also added staff to my department to ensure smooth work.
Through discussion, the leader said that because the workload has increased, my salary will increase by about 6 million VND/month. For many people, a salary of 19 million VND/month is very high, but honestly, my work pressure is very high. To ensure that I can meet the increasing demands of the job, for nearly a year now, I have registered to study Economic Law at university, part-time to further improve my skills and qualifications," said Ms. Hoa.
Also accepting to do extra work to increase his income, Mr. Ngo Cong Hieu (from Nong Cong district, Thanh Hoa) - a pharmaceutical representative for a Swiss pharmaceutical company - said that he is currently a regional pharmaceutical representative, in charge of 6 provinces in the Central region. In 2025, Mr. Hieu will be assigned to 4 more provinces in the Northeast region.
“I know the job will be very hard, traveling back and forth like a shuttle, but because I don’t have a family yet, I still accept the job assigned by my superiors. Hard work will of course increase income, young people accept to strive for a stable future,” Mr. Hieu affirmed.
